Lord Godfrey is stabbed and takes 5 damage... his helmet is all that saves him.

The Falx swordsman is parried, and Sir Jarvis takes the cheap shot to bash in his skull. (Marcriss +1 G, Jarvis +1 XP)

A Black Knight kills Godfrey's opponent. (Godfrey +1 G)

The guy who stole the banner swings, missing Lord James, who strikes back but sees his sword glance off his opponent's armour.

Marcriss and James attack the banner carrier almost simultaneously on their round, but he fends them off.

He even survives Sir Egon backstabbing him.

With three guys already attacking the soldier, Lord Godfrey resolves to throw his sword... and misses.

Jarvis tries the same approach. He hits, but equals his adversary's armour.

It's all up to Almond now! Almond actually went missing for a while (I accidentally put him in the Falx polybag and had no idea where I left him for a while), he sure is pissed.

Range is ok, the attack roll is too, but damage is not...

Bored with the situation, the soldier who's already killed three Falx decides to lend a hand. I didn't even bother to picture how his throw equaled the Falx armour...

Not wanting to waste a round just killing this guy, I looked on ahead to see what would happen on the NPC's turn...

The soldier thrusts past Lord James, missing...

... and is struck down! (+1 G, +1 XP to Lord James)

James the Black quickly reclaims his standard.

"What are you looking at me for like that? These Falx fought like slaughtered civilians, I could've handled them myself. Do you want a reward? Just take anything you can loot off these fools. Now leave me be, I have business with the queen..."

The main quest 'Ambush' has been completed. Marcriss, Egon, Almond, Jarvis, James and Godfrey all receive 5 xp and 5 gold (the loot). Lord James gets an additional 5 xp for fulfilling his personal objective (surviving).

The 'Kill the scouts', 'queen's gemstones', 'queen's treasure' and 'King's Sorrel' quests are now free game. You've all leveled up, so you can travel to the neutral zone to apply your skillpoints if you wish. Queen Lara may also have a couple more quests. Remember you can string several orders together if you want a couple of things done in a row.

Now, to Zupponn...

"Okay let's do this LEEEROOOY JEEEENKINS!"

Don't ask me how, but the scout parried it.

Alerted, the other scouts close in and aim, relying on their marksmanship to take the risk of hitting their ally...

I am going to go back to the Queen and get myself a personal quest, I will review the amount of gold in my coin purse and loiter for a bit while I decide what to do with stuff. If I have 2 SP I will give myself another HP to live up to my name.

Sir Alamar the Resilient strides into the throneroom (played by Quantum)

Uncle Patch: "Aha, Alamar, it's good that you've come. The Queen is running an errand right now, but there's something I can entrust you with now that she's here. Someone is after her life. Yesterday, we found a death threat hanging on a tree. The knife that held it there was definitely of Falx making. No doubt one of those filthy assassins is in the vicinity. Find the assassin, and get rid of him!"

New quest: find the assassin. (worth 1 xp)

New quest: kill the assassin. (worth 5 xp)

"Sir Barad the Ungiving (played by me!) will accompany you to watch your back."

Marcriss returns from the fight.

Barad the Ungiving: "You look like you've just picked a fight, comrade."

Marcriss: "Alas, it was too easy. I hope the Falx on the other side of the problem will give us some more trouble!"

Uncle Patch: "If that's what you want... I want the commander of the nearby Falx fortress killed before we set off. We can't allow this area to remain contested."

New quest: Kill the Falx commander (5 xp).

Godfrey upgrades his sword to a heavy weapon. He can't dual-wield a handweapon and a heavy weapon though... not yet.

The scouts go about their business, but are more wary than before.

And they should be. Sir Egon bursts out of nowhere and takes a reaction shot head on. Again, it hits, but fails to kill him. He is truly the man of steel.

His attack could have been better though. The rest of the Falx are alerted.

Almond and Jarvis upgrade their stuff. The heroes also get a new quest:

- The missing knight: one of the crusading knights has gone missing. Find him and return him safely. (5 xp)

More knights spill into the valley. Ignore Almond and Marcriss, they're not supposed to be there.

Barad the Ungiving fails his parry and is hit, but is saved by the light armour I purchased. Phew.

The Falx's aim is solid, they simply suck at rolling damage.

Godfrey sees a test subject for his new toy.

Of course, it doesn't help when you crit fail. Jarvis comes in to bash the scout's skull in, but damage fails him.

Sir Egon, let's tag team this bugger. Maybe try to shove him over the edge there?

I'll supplement the attack and back up whichever knight is nearest, using the length of my weapon as an advantage. When this is done, I'd like to keep an eye out for clues as to the assassin's presence or passage.